Word: tynan
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Funny he should mention it, because the Tynan character at times seems a somewhat attenuated Teddy-doll: half-moon glasses, jabbing finger, troubles with the missus. And the sexual politics always have been a hallmark of the Kennedy mystique, even with the Senator's often embarrassing weight problem. The mimicry appears at just the right time to capitalize on, and possibly abet, the burgeoning Kennedy in '80 groundswell...
Admittedly, Alda's concern is not Washington, but ambition--and how it seduces Joe Tynan, and how that seduction affects the people around him. Barbara Harris's Elie cannot accept political life, but neither will she part with her husband. Elie borders on the liberated, flapping her gums without taking a firm stand when faced with Tynan's indifference and infidelity. If Alda had lived up to his touted feminist credentials, Elie could not say, "All I ever wanted was for you to love me." She could go to college, or whatever, yet she remains a faithful and willing victim...
...what's a family when you've found a soul-mate, another mover and shaker and eater of Maalox? Tynan's lack of concern for his non-political life is matched and complemented by Karen's similar interests. In a scene reminiscent of Faye Dunaway and Peter Finch's "business lunch" in Network, the senator and the lawyer share information about their upcoming confrontation with the Supreme Court nominee while performing stress tests on their new Posturepedic. Streep, tackling with stunning confidence an entirely different role from that she played in The Deer Hunter, evinces a magnetic attraction to power...
...SCREENPLAY strains with the Kennedy model and an intrusive Hollywood morality. But the excellences in character acting balance any such flaws. Melvyn Douglas, a reliable old pro, plays the aging, once powerful Senator Birney, whose friendship Tynan must betray. Alda's best moments come when he is Douglas's foil; Tynan feels contempt for the old man's politics but cannot help sympathizing when Birney lapses into senility and the Cajun tongue of his youth. Rip Torn plays a hilarious cameo as the libidinous buffoon, Sen. Ritner...
...most successful seducer in The Seduction of Joe Tynan is Joe Tynan. He seduces his wife with false promises. He seduces Karen Traynor with the promise of power and passion of success. Tynan himself is seduced--hence the title--but we never see the manipulation in his face. When Tynan wins in the end, we're happy. But nobody said we couldn't be seduced...